A team of experts have joined together to capitalise on their three decades of experience in working on challenging projects across the Middle East to set up TUR International in Dubai, UAE, which will provide comprehensive solutions for the architectural door hardware and automatic door industry.

The Jebel Ali-based company, which was established in April 2019, has designed its own products which have been certified to European (EN) and American (ANSI) standards and is outsourcing their manufacture, Raghunath S, co-founder and executive chairman of TUR, tells Gulf Construction.

TUR International’s range of door hardware solutions include American door hardware, European ironmongery, residential and hospitality solutions, access control solutions, washroom accessories, glass hardware and hermetic doors.

Raghunath says this new operation in the Middle East has three main objectives:

Door hardware ... designed by TUR and certified to relevant standards.

• Improve the awareness among customers and stakeholders about the relevant EN and ANSI standards that apply to door hardware;

• Educate customers and stakeholders on the process involved in this certification and the importance of selecting suitable and correct certified products; and

• Improve the technological know-how among customers in terms of new technologies and suitable ways to save energy and enhance safety.

While, doors and door hardware play an important part in securing assets of a building, they should not compromise on the safety of occupants, he points out.

“It is vital that each door is equipped with door hardware supporting the requirement of fire compartmentation and fire/smoke escape routes. Such requirements have to be taken care while designing the door hardware requirements of each building,” he adds.

Also, in line with the region’s focus on sustainability, it’s imperative that each door opening meets energy-saving and green building requirements.

GU Automatic’s swing door drive.

Given the diversity of products within the door hardware sector where many high-quality international branded products are available on the market, TUR is committed to support architects, designers, consultants and contractors by advising on the most appropriate choices and the best possible techno-commercial support.

“Our aim is to communicate the right advice on any door hardware design directly with designers and architects and to provide suitable door hardware sets while preparing the door hardware schedule. While these initiatives are being taken by renowned international brands, we believe our efforts will assist a wider audience,” says Chamara S Gunasekara, director – sales and marketing.

“Our team has more than three decades of experience and knowledge on the door and door hardware industry working on complex projects ranging from health, education, hospitality and commercial to military projects across the Middle East,” Raghunath says. “Our approach and skill in managing increasingly intricate submittal and approval procedures assures clients of quality services that are provided with the highest standards of technical support.”

TUR has already supplied to a number of prominent projects including The Opus Towers (designed by Zaha Hadid) at Business Bay in Dubai, UAE; Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Kuwait; Green Park Adventure Resort in Oman; Al Faisaliah hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Al Bayt Fifa Stadium at Al Khor, Qatar; and Shangri-la Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The company currently covers the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait in the Middle East and has expanded to Sri Lanka more recently, and intends to extend its reach to four other countries in the near future.

Elaborating on the reasons behind its rapid expansion, Darshana Supun Chandrasiri, director – finance, says: “The main purpose of this expansion at this early stage is to make sure we provide the best techno-commercial support to all our stakeholders on the ground. We believe providing direct support to customers on the ground and working with them towards a common goal makes a huge difference to the end product.”

Within a short span since its inception, TUR has already tied up with three well-known brands in the market, namely GU Automatics, James Gibbons Format and B&B Locks.

“All of these partnerships are taken with the purpose of improving customer satisfaction, achieving higher security and meeting customer demand on product verticals,” he says.

GU Automatics, founded in 1977 as ats – Automatik-Tür-Systeme GmbH in Rheda-Wiedenbrück became a member of the Gretsch-Unitas group in 2005 and has been operating under the name GU Automatic GmbH since 2009. GU Automatic is known worldwide for innovative, secure and reliable solutions in door automation, all-glass systems and controlled physical access systems.

James Gibbons Format has been the architectural ironmongery expert behind some of the biggest and most ambitious projects since 1670. From the Houses of Parliament to state-of-the-art buildings like The Sage Gateshead in the UK, it has been consistently providing reliable access and security solutions using its superior knowledge and quality products. By the late 19th century, “the oldest established lock maker in Britain” had diversified into the manufacture of a much wider range of architectural metalwork. Examples of James Gibbons’ craftsmanship can be seen in many notable and historic applications, including the Buckingham Palace and the famous musical clock outside Fortnum & Mason in London.

B&B Locks of Belgium develops and assembles high-quality electronic security locks for customers in Europe and beyond. In the 1980s, the family-owned company optimised electronic lock technology for security doors with Technilock, which met the high standards required by the Belgian banking sector. In 2000, the brand name Technilock and the L3 series were sold and B&B Locks became the new company and brand name.

Today, B&B Locks continues to offer in-depth knowledge in the field of modern high-quality, high-security locks for buildings such as banks, prisons, airports, museums, embassies, psychiatric institutions, hospitals and laboratories.